Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma
The managing partner of Proto3000, a 10-year-old 3D Printing services and supply firm, was both gratified by the recent explosion of popular media coverage of 3D Printing that was certain to bring his firm additional opportunities, and concerned as to how his company could maintain their broad leadership position as new competitors began to join the fray. As the managing partner began thinking about what to do next, he wondered whether he should stick with his biggest market segments or diversify into new markets that seemed to hold a lot of promise. In addition, he wondered which challenges associated with the disruptive technology that his industry revolved around he needed to consider as he plotted a course forward for Proto3000. Authors are affiliated with Nipissing University.
Swot Analysis of "Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma" written by Glenn Brophey, Evan Stubbert includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that 3d Proto3000 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the 3d Proto3000, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which 3d Proto3000 operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of 3d Proto3000
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of 3d Proto3000
Strengths Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of 3d Proto3000 in Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled 3d Proto3000 to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped 3d Proto3000 to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of 3d Proto3000
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that 3d Proto3000 does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– 3d Proto3000 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled 3d Proto3000 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- 3d Proto3000 is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at 3d Proto3000 is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– 3d Proto3000 is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– 3d Proto3000 is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– 3d Proto3000 has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– 3d Proto3000 has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of 3d Proto3000 in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– 3d Proto3000 is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Highly skilled collaborators
– 3d Proto3000 has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the 3d Proto3000 are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Weaknesses Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Glenn Brophey, Evan Stubbert suggests that, 3d Proto3000 is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma, in the dynamic environment 3d Proto3000 has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. 3d Proto3000 has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract 3d Proto3000 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, 3d Proto3000 has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though 3d Proto3000 has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, 3d Proto3000 has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. 3d Proto3000 even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of 3d Proto3000 is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. 3d Proto3000 needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help 3d Proto3000 to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of 3d Proto3000 products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, 3d Proto3000 needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of 3d Proto3000 supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left 3d Proto3000 vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though 3d Proto3000 has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as 3d Proto3000 is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, 3d Proto3000 can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that 3d Proto3000 operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– 3d Proto3000 can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, 3d Proto3000 is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– 3d Proto3000 has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at 3d Proto3000 can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Strategy & Execution segment.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for 3d Proto3000 in the consumer business. Now 3d Proto3000 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. 3d Proto3000 can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for 3d Proto3000 to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– 3d Proto3000 has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help 3d Proto3000 to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects 3d Proto3000 can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– 3d Proto3000 can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, 3d Proto3000 can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– 3d Proto3000 can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Threats Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– 3d Proto3000 high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Increasing wage structure of 3d Proto3000
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of 3d Proto3000.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– 3d Proto3000 has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, 3d Proto3000 needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for 3d Proto3000 in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for 3d Proto3000 in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. 3d Proto3000 can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on 3d Proto3000 demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, 3d Proto3000 can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma .
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of 3d Proto3000 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that 3d Proto3000 is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of 3d Proto3000.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Dudley, Dentists and Design: A 3D Disruption Dilemma is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that 3d Proto3000 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.